French Needle Paris 2016 - Day 3

May 25 was a little cold in the morning but it, thankfully, quickly warmed up. In the morning we spent it doing more touristy things: we toured les Passages couverts de Paris. We didn't do all of them, but the ones we saw were beautiful and there were many little shops inside. Unfortunately we weren't able to stop at all of them to look around. It just means I will have to go back to Paris ;)

I wasn't able to photograph all of them, but here is the first one: Galerie Véro-Dodat

Christian Louboutin has his women's Paris flagship boutique here as well the first men's boutique.

I spotted a pair of beaded sandals in their window. Not my color, but love the bead work.

The passages were a way of connecting districts and neighborhoods to each other allowing them to move easily direct traffic.

While we were there we saw the cutest little dogs all dressed up.

Here are a few more shop windows I photographed.

In the afternoon, we got the chance to visit Au Ver a Soie. As you can see from the sign below, they have been in business for a long time. They've been in the building where they currently are since the 1930's.

Their shop is not open to the public. They usually only sell at shows and through vendors, but an exception was made for us to come visit and shop to our hearts content.

Nathalie and her brother are the 5th generation to be working in the family enterprise. We got the chance to speak with her and express our relief that the fire from a year ago didn't affect their business and they were able to come back. She said that they received so many emails and cards from all around the world and were very surprised. They had no idea how many stitchers they have touched.

We also asked questions about their process. Their silks for example all come from China. It arrives to them white and then they spin, dye and package it at their factory. You all probably know more about their thread line (I've personally never used them), but did you know they match dye lots by hand? To keep the color consistent, they always match the threads from new batches to the previous one to ensure that the color you buy today is the same one you bought yesterday. Another tidbit, Hermes, the high-end retailer uses their sewing thread to stitch the rolled hems on their scarves.

You can see that they've been here for a VERY long time from the dusty shelves and narrow hallway. Doesn't it look like Ollivander's Wand shop?

Although I'm not big on buying threads unless it's for a specific project, I did make an exception in this case. I bought a little package containing different types of threads that they carry as well as a package of silks in pastels. I also got a kit, this is from the collection they made in collaboration with Pascal Jaouen. And I can't pass up a good book. They had a copy of this book on Korean knot work known as Maedeup (for a very low price). They also had books by Marie-Thérèse Saint-Aubin, the very ones I missed on buying, and they were signed! Unfortunately, those were not for sale :(

I found out the reason behind Marie-Thérèse Saint-Aubin's disappearance. Her husband had passed away and she has not designed since. Nathalie mentioned that she might come back to the embroidery world soon and looking at her blog, it seems that she might be back :)

We did a little bit more shopping at another shop called Ultramod but I have nothing to show for that. My mom took all the buttons before I got the chance to take pictures :P The shop is pretty similar to La Droguerie but with more ribbons and haberdashery. They also have another shop right across the street for furniture trimmings and things to make hats. I'm sorry to say that although I like the buttons I found there, I did not like their second location. It was very musty and I couldn't spend more than a minute inside. So if you have allergies beware.

Afterwards we took a little side trip to check out the Eiffel tower from a distance and take pictures for those who have never been.

Dinner that night was at la Bouteille d'Or. We were eating pretty early by French standards so the restaurant was deserted.

While sitting at our table on the second floor, Lisa and I spotted a needlepoint shop right next door called Tapisseries de la Bûcherie. Unfortunately for us, it was: 1. closed and 2. we already had our plans for the evening. We had tickets to attend a concert at Notre Dame de Paris, a Requieme.

I took a picture of the door, I love the metalwork.

Here are close ups.